Logitech has officially launched the Revue set-top box today, the first standalone device with Google TV.

The box will sell for $300 with a full-sized keyboard included.

Buyers can purchase the keyboard separately for $99 of they choose to purchase a different Google TV device.

Pre-orders have started today for a release date in the last week of October.

Some of the specs of the Revue:

The device has built-in Harmony Link tech, using IR to control all devices in your home entertainment system. Harmony remotes are compatible. Android devices and iPhones can control the Revue after users download a free app.

If you are a DISH satellite subscriber, you can access DVR content from your Revue.

Logitech has built-in a media player app that allows for streaming playback of local content or the playback of files off of attached storage.

The Revue's TV camera can capture video in 720p and will work with Vid HD software that is pre-installed. The app alerts you of calls while you're watching, and when you aren't.

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Ubisoft's North American boss Laurent Detoc has said that he wants Ubisoft to be the largest third-party publisher of software made for the Kinect motion control system for the Xbox 360 console. He claimed that the Kinect system was comparable in consumer appeal to Apple's iPad.

"I think that today is a pretty good testament that Kinect is going to do pretty well, because today is an event only about Kinect. That's a statement about how we think it's going to do," he said at a Kinect event in San Francisco. "It's our intent to be the biggest third party publisher on that machine."

Showing his confidence in Kinect to succeed, Detoc made a comparison to Apple's iPad. "It's cool. It's a piece of technology. Why do people buy iPads? I have an iPad. My wife has an iPad. Why? You've gotta have it," he said.

When asked about Kinect's high RRP, he seemed unconcerned. "It's not such a big investment compared to how good it is, and how many units they want to sell at the beginning. Ask me a year for now how I feel about the pricing for Christmas 2011, based on the install base they have," he said.

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TiVo Inc. has said that the U.S. Patent office has reaffirmed the validity of a TiVo patent at the center of a legal case that has been ongoing since 2004. TiVo shares rose 10 percent following the boost from the patent office in its legal battle with Dish Network and EchoStar.

"Today's decision further validates our (intellectual property) and brings us closer to ending EchoStar's ongoing infringement," the company said.

TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in September that the legal battle between TiVo and EchoStar was likely to be resolved around February or March next year.

TiVo accused EchoStar of violating TiVo patents with its Dish Network system. The patent in question covered TiVo's "Time Warp" software that allows a viewer to record one TV program while watching another. To date, EchoStar has already paid $104 million in damages to TiVo.

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Facebook has added a new "groups" functionality that allows users to form discreet groups of people to share information and communicate within. It also has introduced new features aimed at giving users more control over the information they add to the site, and who can access it.

"The changes today are about giving people more control over how they share in a lot of different contexts," Mark Zuckerberg told BBC News. "One of the things we have heard is that people just want to share information with smaller groups of people. It will enable people to share things that they wouldn't have wanted to share with all of their friends."

"There are some things you are comfortable saying to all your friends at once but a lot of things you only want to share with your close co-workers or your family and there just hasn't been a great way to do that until now."

A list feature on Facebook already allowed users to create subset of friends, but Zuckerberg said that only about 5 percent of its half a billion users tried it. "Groups will change behaviour," Augie Ray a senior analysts with research firm Forrester told BBC News.

"It's possible that people will join Facebook because they will feel they can control who sees their information. I am a very open person and blast everything I say on Twitter or Facebook but now something like this will allow people to think more deeply about who will see what they say, and will increase engagement."

However, there are still some concerns being raised about privacy. "Mostly i am happy they are giving users more control and I think the groups aspect for the most part does give you this added control," said Larry Magid, co-director of ConnectSafely.org.

Magid is somewhat concerned about users getting a false sense of security, and not realizing that friends they add to a particular group, can also add their own friends into the discreet circle too. "As long as you are aware of who is in the group it can be a great privacy tool. If it gets out of hand it could give you a sense of false security," he said.

Another possible issue is syncing features on the iPhone which can allow users share their contacts' data on the social network. "It's very possible that your private phone numbers - and those of lots of your and their friends - are on the site," said Charles Arthur of the Guardian newspaper.

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In July, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made it clear that a disc-free version of Netflix was headed to the PlayStation 3 by the end of the year.

Today, Sony says users will be able to access the content without a disc by the end of the month.

Social Media Manager Jeff Rubenstein had this to say when asked about a timeframe for the new app: "It's this month, but we don't have a date to announce at present."

It was initially promised before Netflix's quarterly earnings, which is on the 20th, so most believe the update will hit the console on the 19th, which is also when the U.S. PlayStation Store updates.

Hastings also said the update will bring about a new UI.

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Intel has said today that there will not be any MeeGo-powered smartphones until next year.

MeeGo is the open-source mobile operating system that was developed by Nokia and Intel for use on phones and tablets.

The project started in February, and the companies showed off an alpha version of the software in July.

Nokia remains the world's largest mobile phone maker, but smartphone sales have lagged, and are non-existent in the United States.

By teaming up, Intel hopes to get their powerful Atom processors into smartphones that will run MeeGo and have access to Intel and Nokia's app stores.

Says Intel: "We have been hitting our dates. We are very pleased with MeeGo's progress so far."

Version 1.1 of the software will be unveiled this week.

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Western Digital has upgraded its My Passport Essential portable hard drives, My Passport Essential SE portable hard drives and My Book Essential external hard drives with USB 3.0 connectivity. All three drives come in a variety of available capacities, and a 3TB My Book Essential external drive is now available.

The drives are all still fully compatible with USB 2.0. When connected via USB 3.0 (or SuperSpeed USB), users can transfer data at up to 5Gbps. WD's press release states that a two-hour High-definition movie could be transfered through USB 3.0 to one of the drives in about three minutes, compared to thirteen minutes for USB 2.0.


My Passport Essential, still WD's smallest portable drive, is available in a 500 GB capacity in five colors; Midnight Black, Cool Silver, Real Red, Pacific Blue and Arctic White. The MSRP for the My Passport Essential portable drive is $99.99 USD.


My Passport Essential SE portable hard drives are available in 750 GB and 1 TB capacities and come in stylish black, silver, metallic blue and metallic red colors. The pocket-sized My Passport portable hard drives are powered directly through the USB cable. The MSRP for My Passport Essential SE drives ranges from $129.99 USD to $169.99 USD based on capacity.


My Book Essential, the world's number-one selling hard drive, touts a small footprint, sleek design and high-capacity storage including 1TB, 1.5TB, 2TB and 3TB. The drive uses WD SmartWare visual backup software. The MSRP for My Book Essential drives ranges from $129.99 USD to $249.99 USD based on capacity.

"With more and more devices like the iPod touch, iPhone 4 and other smartphones adding video-capable cameras, digital video is becoming ubiquitous. Most homes already have thousands of photos and music files, increasing the need for storage around the house. Having the extra capacity to store these files and move them around quickly is becoming a big issue for many consumers around the world," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group.

"WD's newest line of My Book and My Passport external hard drives features the latest USB 3.0 connection technology, which more than triples the speed to transfer media files, but still works with today's USB 2.0 ports. In addition, consumers can take advantage of the highest capacity available on external hard drives with the new 3 TB My Book Essential drive."

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Samsung Electronics has boasted today that 5 million Galaxy S smartphones have been sold since launch in June.

The company is the world's second largest mobile phone maker but has lagged in smartphone sales.

Samsung's Galaxy S, released across all four major U.S. carriers, was the company's "answer" to the Apple iPhone and high-end Android devices from Motorola and HTC.

Thanks to the Galaxy, Samsung says it should manage to hit 25 million smartphones sold, putting it in fourth place in global sales behind Nokia, RIM and Apple.

Furthermore, the company expects to sell another 4 million units of the Galaxy S in the current quarter.

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Hewlett-Packard Senior Vice President Eric Cador has told an industry conference that the company will begin shipping smartphones loaded with the webOS software it acquired from its $1.2 billion Palm buyout earlier this year. "You will see us coming early next year with new phones," he said.

HP bought Palm in order to fast-track its venture into the smartphones market, and had recognized the importance of getting the rights to the popular software immediately. "More importantly we acquired webOS," Cador told the conference in Barcelona.

Going by revenue, Hewlett-Packard is the world's largest technology company, but it would risk falling behind if it didn't target the highly profitable smartphone market. Palm's intellectual property has provided it with its own weaponry to fight against rivals like Apple, which dominates the market.

Dell, Lenovo and Acer are also pushing into feature-packed smartphones as the sector continues to grow rapidly.

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AndroidandMe is reporting that Motorola is set to release a Tegra 2 smartphone in early 2011, although details are still very scarce due to "hardcore NDAs."

The only concrete detail is that it uses the fast processor and has a 4.1-inch screen.

Co-CEO Sanjay Jha says the company is very close with Nvidia, the maker behind the chip although he did acknowledge that new partners in the mobile space will always have "some lessons to learn."

Jha acknowledged the Tegra 2 device, as well, but noted that it will likely ship in the Q1 2011 with a small chance it launches before the end of the year.

We will keep you updated on what promises to be a very powerful Android smartphone.

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According to research from The Guardian, London-based law firm ACS:Law keeps about 40 percent of the copyright infringement fines paid as settlements by alleged pirates. Out of a typical letter demanding a £300 settlement from an Internet user accused of sharing files illegally, ACS:Law would expect to pocket about $120, while the rights holder of the content in question could expect between £60 and £90.

About 10 percent of the settlement fee is paid to the company that retrieved the IP address of the alleged copyright infringer. Internet service providers can expect as much as 15 percent of the fee to cover the costs of retrieving and sending subscribers personal information following a court order.

Germany-based record label, Zooland Records, which owns the copyright to Cascada's Evacuate the Dancefloor single (often the track alleged to have been shared illegally in ACS:law complaints), would not give a comment to The Guardian, with a spokesman saying the company was instructed not to talk about or ACS:Law by bosses.

Other reports have shown that ACS:Law can expect to pocket even more of the sums paid by those accused of downloading and sharing adult entertainment content illegally. Last week's data leak implicated 5,000 UK broadband users as having downloaded or uploaded pornography.

ACS:Law could be liable of up to $500,000 itself following a major data leak following a cyber-attack. The data included the personal details of thousands of broadband customers in the UK, as well as internal ACS:Law e-mails and other content.

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Motorola has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming that Apple's "i" devices infringe on their patents.

Additionally, Motorola says a few Mac computers also infringe on the patents.

The three complaints include 18 patents, all of which relate to "early-stage innovations developed by Motorola in key technology areas found on many of Apple's core products and associated services, including MobileMe and the App Store."

Patents are related to "wireless communication technologies, such as WCDMA (3G), GPRS, 802.11 and antenna design, and key smartphone technologies including wireless email, proximity sensing, software application management, location-based services and multi-device synchronization."

Motorola is asking for a block on imports of all infringing Apple products.

Says Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility: "Motorola has innovated and patented throughout every cycle of the telecommunications industry evolution, from Motorola's invention of the cell phone to its development of premier smartphone products. We have extensively licensed our industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, consisting of tens of thousands of patents in the U.S. and worldwide. After Apple's late entry into the telecommunications market, we engaged in lengthy negotiations, but Apple has refused to take a license. We had no choice but to file these complaints to halt Apple's continued infringement. Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property, which are critical to the company's business."

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According to a new WSJ article, Apple is all set to begin manufacturing a CDMA iPhone, one that will be available on the carrier by the Q1 2011.

The phone will be identical to the current iPhone 4 sold via AT&T and other carriers internationally, except using CDMA instead of GSM.

In the United States, Apple has had an exclusive agreement with AT&T since the original iPhone's launch in 2007.

Furthermore, the article cites sources who say Apple is already developing the iPhone 5, one that will "be a different form factor from those that are currently available."

That vague sentence leaves a lot up to interpretation as Apple has never hinted about adding a physical keypad to the device or of significantly changing the form factor.

Verizon, Apple and Qualcomm (the maker of the CDMA chip) have all declined comment.

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At an industry conference in Barcelona on Wednesday, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) chief executive Dirk Meyer revealed that the company is not officially up for sale. "AMD is not for sale, but we are happy to listen to any proposal which is in the interest to our shareholders," Meyer said.

The comments came in response to a question about Oracle's plans to increase its interests in the space. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said that the company is keen to make acquisitions and that a microchip company would be an ideal buy.

AMD is the world's second largest manufacturer of x86 architecture-based microprocessors, behind Intel Corp. The company is likely to encounter increasing opposition from ARM microprocessors that are predominant in tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.

"I don't really view ARM as a threat," Meyer said. He said he still sees major growth opportunities in the industry. AMD has been hurt by weak demand for new personal computers in recent times, but Meyer said the company was working to reclaim market share it has lost to Intel in the area with a new line of "Fusion" chips, combining graphics and computing power.

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HTC, the world's fourth biggest smartphone maker has reported strong quarterly earnings today thanks to strong sales of phones using the Android operating system.

Net profit for the Q3 was 11.1 billion New Taiwan Dollars (about $360 million USD), up from 5.695 billion NTD in the same period last year.

The company was expected to have an 8.7 billion NTD profit.

Adds one analyst: "Investors are comfortable with HTC's status in the Android market. HTC will keep a stable position, even if it is not a leader in the sector."

HTC has created a number of new Android-powered smartphones this year and will release a Windows Phone 7 device later this month.

Sales have jumped to 75.85 billion NTD in the quarter from 33.81 billion a year earlier.

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